Republicans criticize Braley’s support for federal prison near Iowa-Illinois border

Republicans on Wednesday took to task Democrat Bruce Braley's support for opening a federal prison near the Iowa-Illinois border, claiming that indicates Braley's willingness to allow the transfer of terrorist prisoners to the Midwest.

Braley, a Democratic U.S. House member from Waterloo, and Joni Ernst, a Republican state senator from Red Oak, are running for Iowa's open U.S. Senate seat.

On a media call hosted Wednesday by the Republican Party of Iowa, U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., criticized Braley for supporting the opening of Thomson Correctional Center in Thomson, Ill., on the Mississippi River roughly 50 miles north of Davenport.

Ayotte said the federal government could transfer terrorist prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in Cuba to the Thomson facility.

'I think (Braley's) plan to house terrorists in Iowa's backyard is not only dangerous but also could present a number of legal issues that could make it more challenging for us to gather intelligence when we need to protect our country as we interrogate those individuals,” Ayotte said.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder in 2012 said the government would not move Guantanamo prisoners to Thomson.

'We will not move people from Guantanamo, regardless of the state of the law, to Thomson. That is my pledge as attorney general,” Holder said during a June 2012 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

Braley's campaign responded with a statement attributed to Clinton, Iowa, City Council member Ed O'Neill. The Clinton City Council in 2009 unanimously supported selling Thomson prison to the federal government for use as a federal prison.

'While Joni Ernst and her allies are attempting to politicize national security on the anniversary of 9/11, Bruce Braley always puts Iowa first, which is why he had extensive conversations with constituents, local officials and business leaders in Clinton, Jackson and Scott Counties, who supported such a decision,” O'Neill said in the statement.

Ayotte said she is confident from personal conversations that Ernst opposes bringing terrorist prisoners to Thomson. A message seeking comment from Ernst's campaign was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The Thomson prison was built in 2002 as a state prison, but it didn't open because of a lack of operational funds.

The federal government purchased it in 2012 to house inmates in the federal prison system, and Congress in January approved funding to move toward reopening the facility. A warden was hired in August, and the first of several employee job fairs is scheduled next week.

The Obama administration had proposed in 2009 that Thomson house foreign detainees who were being held at Guantanamo Bay but shelved that idea in the face of congressional opposition.